Hi.

Oct 17 Let's fast forward a little bit

Day 9 of this trip was a free day in Udaipur. We had a pretty laid back morning and woke up quite late.

Around 11:00 we decided to go to the old town to have an early lunch. We walked around the lake and managed to stepped into Jagat Niwas Palace Hotel where we had lunch. The rooftop restaurant had an amazing view of the Pichola lake and right there and then we fell in-love with the city even more.

Tuktuk’s were not available since most of the road leading to the Jadgish Temple were closed. It’s probably because of Diwali- which will be in two days time. Diwali is the five day festival of lights, celebrated by millions of Hindus, Sikhs and Jains across the world. The festival gets its name from the row of (avali) of clay lamps (deepa) that Indians lights outside their homes to symbolise the inner light that protects from spiritual darkness.

The street on the way to Jagdish Temple is decorated with colourful stencils and lights. Most of the smaller temples along the way seems to be having some small celebrations. The street is filled with women selling marigold flower garlands used as an offering to their Gods. It is such an amazing sight to see.

The Jagdish Temple seemed to be less busy as we went around 15:00. From the outside it looked simple but when we got in and took our time to go around the temple that’s when we realised how beautiful and grand the architectural details are. The incense sticks, flowers, colours and chanting brought us to another world.

We watched the sunset around 18:00 on one of the highest view points in Udaipur called the Karni Mata Temple hill top. You can either take the cable cars/ropeway for 103rupees or do a quick hike to get to the top. Obviously we did the latter and we were rewarded with an amazing view. The view of the city from above was unexpected as it felt like we were in a European country.

The evening was spent watching a Rajasthani Cultural Dance and Puppet show at the Bagore Ki Haveli and Im glad that we did not miss this opportunity. The show was about 45minutes long and costs 150 Rupees and if your like us who likes to take photos, you can also pay extra 150 Rupees. It was a spectacular and fantastic show with a rich history and diversity. The oldest performer of the folk show was 70 years old. She managed to balance 11 water carriers towering over her head whilst dancing on a tiny brass plate.